Yes! Dermot’s new house has a giant island in the kitchen and a glass wall
Bannon and family in for Christmas as fans await new year TV show reveal
TV ARCHITECT Dermot Bannon’s new home is finally finished but he has warned fans not to expect lots of bling in his revamped pad.
The outdated property that the RTÉ star purchased in Drumcondra for €850,000 last year is now a four-bed, four-bathroom house worth well in excess of €1million.
Not bad going for a ‘poor architect’, as Mr Bannon once described himself.
The house in the northside Dublin suburb will feature in a two-part Room to Improve special which will air on RTÉ One on Sunday January 5, with the second part going out a week later.
Already two ‘sneak preview’ photos on his Instagram page have his friends and followers talking.
‘Can’t wait. This is more exciting than Christmas,’ enthused one.
Viewers will be interested to learn that Mr Bannon himself did not draw up the plans for the property, but rather he used the services of Chapelizod-based architect Ciaran Devine.
Dermot, his wife Louise and their three children lived in rented accommodation during the build, which took more than a year.
Like every good episode of Room To Improve, Mr Bannon admits that the build overran.
Having sold their previous home on Bantry Road in Drumcondra for nearly €680,000, they found the property just around the cormer. One of the things that attracted them was the 60-metre back garden.
The house featured high ceilings, original floors and doors, original fireplaces and stained-glass windows but was in marked need of updating. Now the front door opens into a hallway with a utility room and loo to the right, before leading into a large open-plan kitchen and living area.
The kitchen features an island with its own sink, while frameless high-spec triple glazing wraps around the rear and part of the side of the ground floor. A building-height ‘void’ rises above the kitchen through the first floor above, providing light for the kitchen.
The ground floor also has a family area as well as a dining area and a separate living room.
Upstairs, there are four bedrooms, two en-suite, with the master bedroom to the front having a walk-in wardrobe, while another room to the rear serves as a den or study area. Large, room-height windows look out to the garden.
An existing garage to the side of the old house was demolished to make way for the extension, while the driveway was widened, with Dublin City Council specifying that the original gate pillar should be moved and reused.
Initial plans for an extension and upgrade of the property drew the wrath of some for its roof height which was ‘overly dominating’, as well as its side gable windows.
‘Regardless of opaque glass, they could potentially at a later stage cause overlooking and will create a night-time illuminating effect during darker hours,’ wrote one neighbour to Dublin City Council.
‘The proposed roof design is out of character with similar properties in the area,’ the neighbour added. Another complained that the two new windows to the front of the property were ‘not aligned’.
‘In general they do not appear to complement the harmony of the ground and first-floor bay windows in the main house.’
Nonetheless the development was allowed with some minor adjustments. The rebuild was thorough but Mr Bannon has warned viewers not to expect a lot of bling.
‘I think it’s other people’s expectations of the lifestyle that I lead. People were always a bit underwhelmed where we lived. I don’t have huge needs for the new home. I just want a really well functioning house, it’s not going to be a huge house,’ he said.
The extension added 136 square metres to the house, bringing the floor area to 240 square metres.
‘I just want a really well functioning house’